Hi All,

I have a VIA EPIA MLB with an embedded 800mhz VIA CPU this system has been running Fedora 6 ever since it's release. The system is really a mini server sat behind my firewall it shows a couple of web pages (most test pages) to the outside world (Apache, mysql etc). It's a great little system runs on 12v low power and no noise – anyway I decided it was about time to update it but I wanted to go with a bit of a “slower paced” dare I say it “longer supported professional/server aimed distro” and thought as I am more of a Fedora and Redhat experienced guy I would try out CentOS.

Anyway very long story – from a bit of googling it appears my EPIA MLB's CPU is i586cpu without cmov support and thus it will not boot or install CentOS Redhat or the newer Fedora's (just boot loops when loading the kernel - only i686 etc supported – the new FC9 tell's me cmov is not supported by my hardware) I have read a few papers on the web about people swapping out the kernel's for one's with i586 support – but thats a bit over my head and I wouldn't know where to start if I can't even get an O/S on the box.

What I am really looking for is recommendations on Distro's that do support my architecture without me having to learn everything from scratch again – hence why I stuck with Redhat and it's Spin off's. I all ready know where everything is with regard to config and I can have the box doing everything I need quickly.

Anyway please share you thoughts and reasoning with me!

Regards
Sm1ler

You can try this 30 MB ISO download in http://www.slackware.com/~alien/slackboot/mini/12.1/ - it is the "mini" installer for Slackware 12.1. It should boot on your Epia just fine by default.
If yes, you should let it boot all the way to the command prompt and then run "fdisk -l". If you see disks and disk partitions, then Slackware is spot-on for your box.
I sure hope so, because I was planning on replacing Slackware 11.0 on my Epia media centre box with 12.1.

BTW: this mini installer does not have any installable packages on board - instead it is intended for network installs, or installs from a local disk partition. But if you decide you want Slackware you may just as well download the complete DVD ISO.

Good luck, Eric